Local authorities in England will be required to keep a mandatory register of children not in school to ensure fewer young people slip under the radar.
The new Labour Government has set out plans for a Children’s Wellbeing Bill in its first King’s Speech – which includes creating a legal duty on councils to maintain “Children Not in School” registers.
Council bosses and education unions have been calling for a register, but many home educators oppose this because they fear it may lead to greater interference.
Under the new duty, local authorities will also be required to provide support to parents who home-school their children.
An investigation by the PA news agency found that dozens of councils in England have seen a sharp rise in the number of children being removed from school to be home-educated since the pandemic.
The number of children in elective home education (EHE) more than doubled in some councils in the last five years, the figures show.
The Children’s Wellbeing Bill also includes plans to give watchdog Ofsted more powers to investigate suspected unregistered schools operating illegally in England.
It is hoped the Bill will make the education system more consistent and safer for every child.
More than a fifth (21.2%) of pupils in England were “persistently absent” in the 2022/23 school year, which means they missed 10% or more school sessions.
This is nearly double the rate in 2018/19 (10.9%), according to the latest Department for Education data.
Plans to legislate for a register of children not in school were once part of the Conservative government’s Schools Bill, which was scrapped in 2022.
The new Children’s Wellbeing Bill will also require free breakfast clubs in every primary school, and will limit the number of branded items of uniform and PE kits that a school can require, to keep costs down.
It will require all schools, including academies and free schools, to teach the national curriculum, and it will ensure all new teachers entering the profession have, or are working towards, Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
The King’s Speech also said the Government will bring forward measures to remove the exemption from VAT for private school fees to enable funding for 6,500 new teachers.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “A mandatory register of children who are not in school is badly needed and long overdue.
“Local authorities must be able to keep a track of children to ensure they are not at risk and that they are receiving an appropriate standard of education.
“At the moment, the system is patchy and there are children who fall through the gaps.”
However, on the VAT policy, he said: “Independent schools fear this policy will have a serious impact on staff and students, with some schools likely to face closure.
“The policy does need to be fully modelled and consulted upon to understand the implications. It will not in itself address the funding crisis facing schools and colleges. That requires a general uplift in funding rates.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union the NAHT, said: “The measures set out in the Children’s Wellbeing Bill are largely sensible and welcome.
“After several aborted attempts at education Bills over the last decade, it is good to see the Government is not just starting to restore education as a national priority, but also focusing on a number of very practical, specific policies – many of which we have long called for.”
He added: “We stand ready to open dialogue with the new Government to understand how the new requirement for all schools to provide breakfast clubs will work in practice.
“It is important the Government understands that there are many different ways to ensure children who need it can access before-school provision, including local partnerships and the utilisation of existing childcare providers.
“It goes without saying that such provision will need to be adequately funded, with a particular focus on staffing costs.”
